WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama pressed the Senate anew Saturday to swiftly confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, expressing confidence that efforts to scuttle her nomination will fail despite intensified scrutiny.

"I am certain that she is the right choice," the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address in which he scolded critics who he said were trying to distort her record and past statements. Those include her 2001 comment that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge.

With the Senate returning next week from recess, Obama said he hopes it begins the confirmation process without delay and he expects his nominee to be on the bench when the Supreme Court begins its new term in October.

In the interim, Obama said he expects "rigorous evaluation" of his nominee but added: "What I hope is that we can avoid the political posturing and ideological brinksmanship that has bogged down this process, and Congress, in the past."

He derided "some in Washington who are attempting to draw old battle lines and playing the usual political games, pulling a few comments out of context to paint a distorted picture of Judge Sotomayor's record."

"But I am confident that these efforts will fail," Obama added, "because Judge Sotomayor's 17-year record on the bench — hundreds of judicial decisions that every American can read for him or herself — speak far louder than any attack; her record makes clear that she is fair, unbiased and dedicated to the rule of law."